KinderBard

If you’ve been reading this blog at all, you know that we know Kids love Shakespeare – especially when that love is creatively fostered and encouraged with play! – and that even the youngest children can find something to enjoy and relate to. (I mean, this exists!)

How young, you ask?

The Kim family has been working on a labor of love to bring Shakespeare to kids through songs for kids to connect them to Shakespeare’s characters. Daeshin Kim wrote the songs, his wife illustrated the text, and his 4 year old daughter, Sherman, sings the final products. Their plan is to release the song-pictures as an app for very young children, which also shows them the scene from the play referenced in the song. For example, Juliet sings to herself that “it’s just a name,” and Cordelia “[doesn’t] know what to say.”

In order to make this project a reality, the Kim’s have started a Kickstarter campaign. Take a look at their video preview below, and consider the uses this could have for Elementary classrooms, or at home.

“They constantly amaze us with their insatiable hunger for material,” Daeshin says, “It is my wish that as our kids grow up, they absorb media that has real value, that has an actual deep connection with language, literature, history, and culture.”

We’ve mused over early-education resources before, like audiobooks (unfortunately in modern-English), animation projects by students, a Midsummer movie just for kids, Apps, and more. We love all of these projects, and hope to see more like them!